Communities contending with crisis in Niger – in pictures

Lack of rain and encroaching desertification are threatening food supplies in Niger, where extreme poverty and population growth already pose huge challenges. As the threat of a humanitarian disaster prompts calls for increased emergency aid, Niger's people are adopting a range of measures to stave off the crisis

• This gallery was amended on 31 January 2012 because the original stated incorrectly that the village of Fandou Kaina does not receive assistance from the United Nations World Food Programme

Monday 30 January 2012 04.00 EST
First published on Monday 30 January 2012 04.00 EST

The remote village of Garbey in Niger lies amid a parched landscape of scrub and sand, with very few trees. Here, men are shown building a wall in an effort to channel the next rains, which are expected in June or July, towards the village reservoir

The village chief explains the work being done to refill the reservoir, which was full in November but is now almost dry. Garbey lies an hour and a half from Niger's capital, Niamey. Its inhabitants receive food for work from the UN's World Food Programme

Niger consists largely of desert. Along with other countries in the Sahel – which stretches from Mauritania in the west to Chad in the east – it is acutely vulnerable to climate change, particularly with the Sahara steadily encroaching from the north

The drying village reservoir. Journalists require a military escort to reach Garbey due to the presence of al-Qaida in the Mahgreb (AQIM) in neighbouring Mali. Kidnapping fears are complicating aid efforts; many western NGOs now rely heavily on local staff

As long as there is a drop of water in Garbey's reservoir, women will scoop out the brown water for the vegetable garden. The EU and Britain have increased emergency aid for the Sahel and appealed for others to step up efforts in order to avert disaster

The village chief's wife is one of five women who take care of this plot, which includes tomato plants. The women also grow lettuce, cabbage, sweet potatoes and potatoes. Any surplus is taken to the market in the nearby town of Ouallam, where they sell it

The women in the village of Fandou Kaina are digging holes in the desert soil to plant trees as part of their efforts to prevent soil erosion. Like nearby Garbey, Fandou Kaina receives assistance from the UN World Food Programme, in the form of food for work

Kristalina Georgieva, the EU’s top humanitarian official, is welcomed by dignitaries and locals at Tahoua airport. She has
called for prompt action on the Sahel food crisis and was visiting Niger and Chad to see what work the EU and its partners are doing there

At 3.69% annually, Niger has the world's highest population growth rate. The population is set to double to 32 million by 2031, presenting a huge challenge for a country ranked one place from the bottom of the UN's human development index

Women wait for their chldren to be screened for malnutrition in Bambeye village, near Tahoua. Around 350,000 children suffer from malnutrition in Niger, of whom 2% suffer from severe acute malnutrition, which can cause permanent damage or death

A woman is given implants to prevent pregnancy for three years. NGOs have been surprised at the high level of demand for long-term birth control in Tahoua. Bringing down the birth rate is seen as essential to complement efforts to boost food production

Villagers from Galadima use millet stalks for ‘dune fixing’, which prevents the soil from being blown away. The land is of poor quality, but the villagers' efforts make the best of a bad lot, enabling modest crops of millet and sorghum to be produced